Emily moves to Rosewood
by Ashlee lee
Summary: Emily and her whole family move to Rosewood to start a new life.
1. Chapter 1

I stood outside the school entrance and took a final deep breath before slowly climbing the steps and walking inside.

It was the end of September so the school year was only a few weeks old. My mom had been offered a once in a lifetime type job opportunity and we'd made a pretty 'live for the moment' type decision to up and leave our home in Massachusetts to start a new life here in a small town near Pittsburgh. When we had started to discuss it just a few weeks ago it had become pretty obvious pretty quickly that this would be the best decision for all of us. It wasn't just for my Mom. It was for all of us. My Dad would be able to change his role in the army in the next few years swapping his current job in active duty to an office job in Pittsburgh and for me it was all about swimming. I love to swim and have ever since my Dad taught me at the age of 4. Here in Rosewood they had a fantastic swim team. Highly competitive, popular and best of all amazing facilities.

We packed up our stuff and moved.

I started the school year at my old school but now here I am ready to start all over again at Rosewood high.

As I enter the school for the first time I quickly scan the hallway looking for the main office. I spot it and quickly make my way to the desk where a youngish woman hands me my schedule and tells me to take a seat.

About 10 minutes later a short, dark haired girl walks up the woman who points to me. The dark haired girl walks over to me and offers her hand for me to shake and says, "Hi. You must be Emily? I'm Aria." She's bubbly and welcoming making me feel immediately relaxed. I stand up and shake her hand and she continues with, "Welcome to Rosewood!"

Aria quickly shows me the main and important areas of the school like the bathrooms and canteen as we chat about little things like where I'm from and family. I find out that she has one brother and that her mom works as an English teacher at the school. When we've finished the mini tour a bell rings and she asks to see my schedule. "Cool" she says. "We have double English together first with ."

The first few lessons go by pretty quickly with minimum awkwardness. I had my first 2 lessons with Aria and one of her other friends Hanna. Hanna is blond and fun. We immediately hit it off. Mainly because she does most of the talking which means I have little opportunity to say something stupid. I don't usually say stupid things but today I'm feeling a little nervous and overwhelmed. After English Hanna and I have the same class again. We say goodbye to Aria and agree to meet her at lunch.

At lunch Hanna and I make our way over to the table where Aria is sitting with another girl. Aria jumps up to hug Hanna and turns to the other girl at the table and says, "Spencer. This is Emily, the new student I showed around this morning." Spencer stands up to greet me and points to a space so I can sit down. Spencer is different from the other two girls. Less bubbly but I can tell that she has a friendly side, it's just not as obvious of a way as Hanna and Aria. They all sit eating lunch and ask me a few questions about where I used to live and what brought me to Rosewood.

When I tell them about swimming Aria says, "You should meet Paige then. She's the swim team captain and can show the pool and stuff."

The three girls continue to chat about boyfriends and other stuff when suddenly Aria stands up and shouts, "Paige!"

A tallish brunette walks over and I vaguely recognize her from English this morning. I remember she walked in a little later than us and took the only available seat on the other side of the room so we hadn't met yet. I remember her eyes as she walked in the room; they were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. But in a flash they were gone and replaced with the back of her head as she took her seat closer to the front then where we were sat.

"Hey, Paige. This is Emily" Aria points to me. "She says she going to be joining the swim team." Paige looks at me and holds out her hand for me to shake and says "That's awesome! We have practice tonight, are you coming?" "I haven't met the coach yet, but I was hoping to start as soon as possible." I reply. Paige smiles and then offers to meet me after last lesson to introduce me to the coach and show me around the pool. I gratefully accept and she sits down across from Spencer and joins in with their conversation.

I'm not paying full attention to everything that they are saying because I don't know any of the people they are talking about, but something Aria say's gets my attention. "Paige, how's Jamie?" "Fine, I think." she replies. Paige has a boyfriend. "She's been real busy lately applying to college and stuff so I've barely seen her." Paige has a girlfriend? And she's older than we are? Right after she's said this I see her looking at me with those beautiful eyes. It's like she knows what I'm thinking. I hold her gaze for a few moments until she smiles and looks away.

I hope that I didn't look too shocked. I didn't want anyone to think badly of me. I just wasn't expecting it. After a few more minutes of chatting it's time for afternoon lessons.

The afternoon goes by without any problems and I sense myself staring to feel anxious as the end of the school day looms. I haven't swum in over a week because of the move, but I'm nervous and excited to swim for the first time with the team that will hopefully get me recognized by some big colleges.

I meet Paige at the end of the school day and she takes me to see the swim coach. The coach is the right amount of friendly and authoritative with all the swimmers. I already feel motivated by her to do my best. She explains the practice schedule and other important things before we start practice.

At the end of swim practice the coach blows her whistle to let everyone know they can stop. I decide to continue on for a little longer to warm down and as I look to the left I notice Paige has decided to do the same.

Twenty minutes later I get out of the pool and head for the showers. When I get out with just my towel wrapped around me I notice Paige stood near to the locker I was given. She must have just finished showering too and we are the only ones left. She smiles at me and nods, "Hey". I say hey back and she begins to fumble around in her locker for her clothes.

"Does it bother you?" She say's looking directly at me. "Having to change in front of me knowing I'm gay, because you don't have to. I can leave or close my eyes?" Paige say's quietly but with a hint of light heartedness.

"No, it doesn't bother me at all." I say smiling. A few seconds later I start, "It's just…" I stop to try and think how to word the rest of that sentence. I know what I want to say but I don't want to say too much.

Paige just stands there giving me a look that says 'oh, I get it. You're just saying it doesn't bother you but in reality it does'.

I quickly shout, almost a little too loudly, '"No. Agr." I lower my voice and I try and find the words that I want to say. "It truly doesn't bother me at all. I promise. I was just wondering…does it bother you? Having to ask that? Having to wonder if every girl in here is thinking you're checking them out when you're not. I mean, just because you're into girls it doesn't mean you are gonna stare and each and every one of them while there just getting changed." I quickly look away to avoid eye contact just in case she can look into my soul or read my mind.

I feel here eye's staring at me and she simply say's "Yeah, it bothers me. A little less now that it did at first. But there's nothing I can do about it so I just try and avoid any awkwardness. I'm here to swim, I love to swim. I'm not here to pick up 'chicks'." She smiles as she says the last sentence and I find myself smiling right back at her. I don't know how she manages it but she's just the right amount of confident and nervous about her sexuality. She's not shoving it in your face but she's not hiding it either.

If she's figured me out she doesn't try and push the issue. This is another thing I find myself liking about Paige.

"That was very insightful you know. I think you and I could be good friends."

The next few minutes are silent. We both put our clothes on and pack our stuff into our bags. "Well" Says Paige. "I gotta go and pick up some homework I forgot about. Are you okay getting home?" I nod quietly and then after waving goodbye and shouting, "see to tomorrow" over her shoulder she's gone.

At that moment I'm glad that there is no one else in the changing room to see me sit on the bench and over analyse everything I have just said. Did I say too much? Maybe when she called me insightful she didn't actually realize why. Maybe she didn't realize that I'm so 'insightful' because that's exactly how I feel. If people knew I was gay would they think I was looking at them in the changing room? I'm okay with being gay. Ever since I admitted it to myself I've felt…free. Like everything suddenly made sense. I found feelings I'd never had before. I'd never looked at someone before and felt attraction. Yeah, I'm fine with being gay but I'm not ready for other people to find out. I've never kissed a girl. I want to experience some kind of connection with a girl before I shout it from the rooftops.

Eventually I pick myself up off the bench and tell myself to stop worrying and concentrate on not getting lost on my way home. All things considered, today wasn't a bad first day at school.


	2. Chapter 2

My second day at school was similar to the first, but things were a little more comfortable. As soon as I saw Hanna, Aria and Spencer standing around in a circle I went over to them to say hello. They were fun to be around and made me feel so welcome right from the moment I met each of them. They didn't make me feel like they were being forced to hang around with me. I'd asked Aria yesterday if she was always this nice to all the new people. She'd told me that this was her first time showing a 'new kid' around and she'd just done it as a favour for her Mom.

The day passed by without incident. I was in a few classes with each of the girls and I recognized some of the girls from the swim team in others.

We had swim practice at the end of the day. I, for some reason, had been looking forward to swimming today even more than I usually would be. The coach decided that having taken it easy on me yesterday that she would time me at various different strokes. She seemed happy with all of my times and when she asked me if they were close to my personal bests, I explained that I hadn't swum as much as I'd liked to have over the last few weeks, what with the move, and that last season I'd actually swum a lot faster than I had today. This made her smile and shout over to Paige, "You might have some tough competition from now on captain." Paige just smiled and she gave a thumbs up as she left the pool to shower. This made me nervous. I didn't want to challenge Paige's status within the team. She was the captain, the fastest, the one that everyone respected. I just wanted to swim and hopefully get a scholarship to college in a few years.

Before I left to shower I asked the coach if it was possible to get in some extra practice in the mornings. She informed me that the pool opened at 6am and that I was welcome to do a few laps any time after that.

By the time I had finished showering everyone had left with the exception of Paige who was just about ready to leave. She looked at me and said, "So you wanna be team captain?" I stood there looking shocked. Was she about to shout at me and warn me off? My mouth was slightly open as if I was searching for the words to say. In the end I just spluttered out "Erm..what…no". Paige just smiles a big beautiful smile at me and says, "Please, go on take it. I never wanted to be captain. They made me just because I was the one who seemed most dedicated, but I just want to swim." She put her hands together in a begging position and continued, "you get to sit anywhere you want to on the bus when we go to away meets and I reckon I could convince everyone to call you Captain instead of Emily, if that helps?" Her smile is wide and playful. I mimic her smile and can't help but looking deep into her eyes before lingering a little too long and quickly looking away. "No, thanks. The jobs all yours. I just wanna swim." I feel Paige's eyes burning into the side of my head as I answer her and in a split second she throws her hands in the air and shout, "Fine" as she leaves and mock storms out. A moment later she pops her head back into the changing area and says, "See you tomorrow Not Team Captain Emily."

Funny. Beautiful. Charismatic. Already taken. I let the last one rest on my mind as I quickly change and headed home.

The next morning I woke up early to get to school in time to swim before my first class.

When I entered the pool area I notice someone else was already doing laps. She glided through the pool in such an effortless motion that she had me in a trance watching her stroke after stroke. I snapped myself back into the moment. I had decided in the last 12 hours that I was in fact not attracted to Paige, but that I instead admired her. She was everything I wanted to be when it came to my sexuality. Confident, out and proud. That was it. I wanted to have what she had. A girlfriend. Friends who asked me about my girlfriend as though it was no different to me having a boyfriend. Yep, I wanted to be like Paige, not with Paige. We can be great friends and maybe one day I'll tell her that I'm gay and she'll help me live like she does. Free of fear of what people might think.

I jump in a few lanes over from Paige and begin to match her stroke rhythm. We continue swimming at the same speed just a few lanes apart when she stops. I continue on swimming until I return to the end where she stands. "Warmed up enough for a quick race, Fields?" she says softly. "Always" I reply. "But how did you know my last name?" She winks and says, "I know everything."

We decide to race a medley of all four strokes. The race stays even throughout, no one ahead or behind for more than a few meters. When we touch the edge of the pool to finish we just look at each other and shrug. We have no idea who won and we don't really care. "That was awesome! No one ever pushes me that hard." Paige says as she jumps out of the pool. "This is going to be a good season, Emily. I can feel it."

I do a few more laps and then head to the showers, then to my first class.

I see Paige a few times throughout the day in different settings. She always acknowledges my presence with a wave or a smile. She even comes up to the lunch table I'm sat at with Hanna, Aria and Spencer and chats to everyone for a few minutes. She seems to be friends with a lot of different people, making time to say 'Hi' to everyone.

By the end of the school day I'm exhausted. I feel like the stress of the move, starting a new school and getting back into intense swim practice had suddenly caught up with me. Thankfully we don't have swim practice tonight so I can maybe just go home and take a nap.

I start walking towards with the exit with Spencer, as we had just had the last class of the day together, when I felt someone touch my shoulder. I didn't even know who it was yet but it felt like electricity was passing through my whole body. I turn around and hear her voice, "Hey, Emily. Can I talk to you about swimming?" Spencer says hi and bye to Paige saying, "I'll leave you too to talk about important swimming stuff, Toby is probably waiting for me." Paige and I both say bye at the same time and I turn to slowly continue towards the school exit and Paige walks next to me. "Is someone picking you up from school? We can talk about swimming another time if you're in a rush?"

"I'm in no rush. I don't live far from here so I'm just going to walk home." I say. In my head I'm thinking that nothing in this world could be more important than talking to Paige right now. We could talk about swimming, what the makes the earth go round, different colors of paint. Anything just to be around her.

"Cool, where do you live?" Paige asks. I point in the direction that I plan on walking in and say, "About 10 minutes in that direction." Paige smiles and heads off in the direction that I just pointed in. "That's perfect, we must live pretty close to each other."

We walk side by side for a few minutes. For me the silence isn't awkward at all. It feels comfortable. But I decide to say something in case Paige is feeling uncomfortable walking, but not talking to someone that she met just yesterday.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I try to say not so loudly. It feels better to talk to Paige quietly, like in a dream type state. "Wha?" Paige makes a noise as though she is shocked. "Swimming?" I say. "Oh yeah! I was just wondering if you planned on swimming every morning before school. Because if you were…I was thinking…maybe…" This is the first time I have heard Paige stuttering her words. Each time she has spoken to me or I have overheard her speaking to other people, she has always been confident and eloquent. She sounds almost…nervous?

Paige swallows hard and says, "I just figured if we're both going to be swimming in the morning that we could do it at the same time. Maybe have a few more races. I really think racing against you is going to make me a faster swimmer."

"So you just want to use me to improve your times?" I say bumping into her lightly with my shoulder. There it is again, electricity.

"Pshhh, of course. Why else would I want to swim with you?" She lightly bumps me back.

We both continue to walk for another minute until she stops at a small intersection. I know I'm only a few minutes from my house because this is one of the 'landmarks' I have been using to get to and from school. I remember thinking this was my favourite part of my walk to school as it had a small grassy area with a few trees and a bench. Despite being an intersection it was peaceful and beautiful.

"Are you walking straight ahead from here?" Paige says to me. "Yeah" I reply. "I live just a few minutes up here."

"I live just down here" Paige says as she points to the left. She continues, "So about swimming. I was going to suggest we meet at the pool, but we could walk together from here if you like?"

"That sounds perfect, how about here at 6?" I say.

Paige nods and breathes deeply as she blurts out, "Can I get your phone number? I mean…just in case I can't make it, or I get attacked by a bear, or…?" I smile as I jump in, "Or in case you get scared that I might embarrass you with my shear speed in the pool." "That too." She says.

She hands me her phone and I type in my number. I hand back the phone and she points it towards me to show me that she's calling me. "Just in case YOU get scared that I might embarrass YOU with MY shear speed in the pool." She mimics what I said to her just moments ago.

"Tomorrow at six then." I say.

"Tomorrow at six." She confirms.

With that we both turn and walk in different directions. As Paige walks away she takes out her phone and pushes a few buttons. She stares at Emily's name in her phone and her finger hovers over the button that says 'write message'. 'Don't be stupid' Paige, she thinks to herself. 'You just saw her 10 seconds ago' and starts to put the phone back in her pocket. As she does it vibrates.

'New message from Emily'

**Are there really bears around here? Em**

Paige immediately hits reply.

**Don't worry. If I hear a scream I'll come running to save you. Paige **


	3. Chapter 3

Emily jumped out of bed at the sound of her alarm. She quickly got ready and headed downstairs to grab something to eat before meeting Paige.

Her mom was already in the kitchen making coffee. She looked surprised, "Wow, you're up bright and early." Pam says. Emily just smiles. Pam smiles back at her daughter and hands her some toast before continuing, "You look happy, Em. I take it that you like it here?" Emily can't supress her smile. She is happy here. She likes the school, the town and most of all she likes the new friends she seems to have made. "I am happy mom. I've made some friends and I like all my classes. Plus I LOVE the swim team."

Emily thinks about the swim team at her old school. The girls on her team mistook her dedication to swimming as being 'stuck up'. They weren't really a serious team. They only practiced once a week and the other girls never placed well in competitions.

Yeah, she was happy.

Emily finished getting ready for school, gave her mom a kiss and left the house with plenty of time to spare so that she wouldn't be late to meet Paige at 6.

When Emily got to the intersection with the bench where she was meeting Paige she could see someone in a large hoodie lying on the bench with their eyes closed. As she got closer she realized that it was Paige. Emily looked at her watch thinking that she must be late, but it was only 5:50. Paige must have been really early.

"Do you always sleep on park benches?" Emily said as she approached Paige. Paige's eyes whipped open and she jumped up off of the bench. "I wasn't sleeping, actually. Just thinking with my eye's closed." Paige said sticking out her tongue. To be fair, Paige didn't look like she had been sleeping, she seemed wide awake as they walked towards the school with a spring in her step.

At first Emily was a few steps behind Paige, lost in her own thoughts. She was marvelling at the fact that Paige was so bouncy in the morning. Paige shouted behind to Emily, "It's a good thing that the walk to school isn't a race, because I'm kicking your butt." The truth was that Emily's legs wouldn't go any faster. Her heart was racing and she had a weird feeling in her stomach. This feeling had been there for the last few days. She put it down to nerves about all the new things she was having to do this week.

Paige slowed down a little so that they were now walking side by side. "Are you always this awake at six in the morning?" Emily says. Paige continues to look forward as she replies with a single word, "Never."

Paige and I continue with this routine for the next few weeks. Swimming together in the morning, walking home together most nights if we had practice. We chatted about little things such as what life in Mass was like, my old swim team, friends and a little bit about family.

Sometimes I felt like she was almost flirting with me, but I know that this can't be true. I've only known her for a few weeks but she seems honest and loyal. I think that her actions must be down to her friendly nature. I guess she was probably just like that with most people.

The feeling in my stomach was still there. It got worse when I was around Paige.

It's not a bad feeling, just…weird.

When we walk to school together Paige never mentions her girlfriend. Maybe she thinks I'm a little uncomfortable about it, despite our talk on the first day. Or maybe she's just a private person.

There are so many questions I want to ask Paige about her girlfriend. How did they meet? How long have they been together? Do her parents know?

I also want to know which school she goes to. She can't go to Rosewood otherwise I would have seen them together, right? Obviously I see Paige hanging out with other girls at school but I either know their names or Paige just doesn't really act 'that way' around them.

I remember Paige saying she was busy applying for college and that means she's a year older than us.

Part of me wants to know the answers to all of these questions and then another part of me, that I try and supress, doesn't want to know. I don't want to think about Paige with someone else.

I hate feeling like this. I try and push these feelings out of my head and replace them with the idea that maybe one day I'll be brave enough to tell people I'm gay and then Paige will help me find someone.

So, that's how it's been for the last few weeks. We walk to school, we chat and laugh. The conversation never gets too serious.

I often see her at lunch time because she almost always comes and chats with Spencer, Hanna and Aria. You can tell that they have all been friends for a long time from the way they talk to each other. Paige obviously has other friends in the school, but seems to be most drawn the group that I am currently sat eating lunch with.

I'm now more involved in the conversations at lunch as I've begun to put the names to the faces of the people they are talking about.

I know that Hanna has been dating a boy called Caleb for a few months and Spencer is, as she says, 'happily single'. I feel that she wouldn't have time for a boyfriend even if she wanted one. Aria on the other hand is a mystery; I haven't quite figured her situation out yet.

It's Thursday and Paige hasn't joined us for lunch yet. The other girls are all chatting about homework and stuff when Spencer suddenly says, "Does anyone have plans on Saturday?" Everyone shakes their heads. "I was thinking that we could hang out in the barn, watch a movie and maybe order Chinese?"

"Sounds good, Caleb is visiting some friends this weekend so I'd be all alone!" Hanna replies. Aria nods to show that she's also in and then Spencer looks at me and says, "What about you Emily?" Aria adds, "Yeah, Em. You've not had the pleasure of visiting the Hastings mansion yet. Her barn is nicer than my whole house!"

Aria was right. I hadn't actually hung out outside of school with any of them yet. I'd only been in Rosewood a few weekends and one of them I'd actually been back to Mass to help with moving the last of our things.

"I'd love to." Just as I say that Paige sits down at the end of our table.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Paige!" Says Spencer. "We're having a movie marathon on Saturday, you in?"

"Of course" she smiles.

"Oh, and you should bring Jamie" Spencer adds.

"Yeah, we haven't seen her in weeks." Hannah adds excitedly.

"Nah." Paige mumbles out. As she does this she suddenly becomes very interested in the contents of her sandwich.

Part of me is disappointed that I won't get to meet Paige's girlfriend, that other part of me is not so disappointed.

As Paige finally looks up from her sandwich she sees that the other three girls are all staring at her.

"What?" she directs at all of them.

They continue to stare at her for another minute. I just look at all four of them in turn trying to figure out what's going on.

"Fine." Paige says, putting down the sandwich. "We broke up."

"When?" Hanna almost shouts.

"Erm… like the weekend after I got back from the camping trip with my parents." Paige is now looking at all of them in a sheepish way.

"Paige! That was like the first week back at school. Why didn't you tell us sooner." Spencer says looking a little confused.

The first week back at school? Paige and her girlfriend broke up weeks before I got here. What? My mind is racing. I shake my head a little to get these thoughts out of my head. This isn't about me, this has nothing to do we me.

As I look up to hear what Paige has to say in response, I notice that she is looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I start to feel embarrassed about how crazy I must've looked shaking my head so I quickly start acting like I was just fixing my hair. I don't think it came off quite as smoothly as I'd hoped though.

"I dunno, I guess I just didn't want you guys to treat me weird. I'm fine. Look." Paige makes the biggest smile she possibly can.

Just then the bell rings signalling that it's almost time for the start of afternoon classes.

Spencer stands up first and looks directly at Paige as she says, "Saved by the bell Paige. But you're not getting away with this that easily, I wanna know all the details on Saturday."

"Can't wait." Paige says as she cheekily sticks her tongue out at Spencer to further emphasise the sarcasm in her voice.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello everyone. I just wanted to say, thanks for reading, following, reviewing and all that good stuff. _

_Hopefully you are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it._

* * *

I didn't have any classes with Paige on a Thursday afternoon so the next time I saw her was at swim practice.

She was already in the pool by the time I got there so the first time we talked was on our usual walk home.

We would often walk in comfortable silences, but not today. Paige was particularly chatty on this walk home. She talked about the team and what would happen when we went to our first meet. She asked me questions about how things worked with my old swim team. She never let the conversation drop into silence.

I wanted to ask her about Jamie. Ask if she was okay and what had happened. I hadn't had chance until we arrived at the bench where we usually said goodbye to each other. I opened my mouth to say something but Paige jumped in, "Well, I gotta get going. I have so much math homework and not everyone can be a math genius like you."

Math wasn't one of the classes that we shared. I was in a slightly more advanced class than Paige was. Paige was great at most subjects but from what I could gather math wasn't exactly her 'calling' in life.

I smiled at her and said goodbye as she turned to walk in the direction of her house.

Paige had said goodbye to Emily about five minutes ago when she felt her phone vibrating. She felt a sense of dread when she looked at it to see a new message from Emily. "Shit." She had got the feeling that Emily was going to ask about Jamie on their walk home, but truthfully she just didn't want to talk about it. She wasn't sad or angry or anything, about the breakup with Jamie. Honestly, she kinda felt nothing. Well actually she felt relieved. She didn't feel the pressure to spend time with her now ex-girlfriend anymore, and that was nice. She loved hanging out with Jamie, but being her girlfriend came with added pressure.

That's when she had realised that things with Jamie weren't going to work out. She didn't feel that want, that need to spend time with her girlfriend. Jamie had been her first girlfriend and she was great. Fun to be around, smart, good looking and most importantly there was no teenage drama that she'd witnessed with other couples at school.

Paige had been 'out' for a while before she met Jamie. I think her friends had just always known. She hadn't even ever told them 'I'm gay'. They had been sat around one day and Aria's house chatting about the usual stuff, mostly boys, when Hanna said, "What about you, Paige. Any boy's you're interested in?"

"Nah, not really into boys" had been all Paige had said.

The other three girls didn't even bat an eyelid when she'd said it. Aria just said, "cool" and the other two girls nodded in agreement and continued on with their conversation.

That was that.

Paige hadn't wanted to make a big deal about it. No grand 'coming out' speeches. She hadn't even planned on telling them. It just felt right. She had slowly come to terms with it a long time ago and was happy with the way she felt. Girls are hot!

I guess that was just her way. Paige didn't like creating drama about things you couldn't change. She was gay and always had been.

Paige had liked that about Jamie and that's what she liked about most of her friends, including Emily. Of course there was always going to be teenage problems, but she liked the way her group of friends dealt with them. If one of them liked a boy, started dating a boy and subsequently, broke up with a boy then obviously they talked about it – but it often turned into them laughing and joking. Boys were boys and their friendship was way more important.

Paige had met Jamie right near the end of the last school year. She was at a swim meet against a nearby school. Paige being Paige was friends with some ofthe girls on the other team. Paige and some of the other girls from Rosewood decided to go for pizza after the meet with some of the girls from the other team.

Jamie wasn't a swimmer. She didn't seem interested in any physical activities but just happened to be best friends with someone on the other team and had therefore been cheering on at the swim meet and joined them for pizza afterwards.

She was smart, funny and obviously gay. It just kinda happened. Jamie was gay, Paige was gay and there weren't exactly hundreds of beautiful gay ladies in the local area so she had thought, 'why not'.

She'd had her first kiss with Jamie and they had a great time hanging out together.

Paige opened the message and smiled.

**If you ever need help with your math homework, just let me know. Em**

**Thanks. I was actually listening in class today, for once, so I kinda get it. But next time definitely. P**

**Anytime. Em**

**Sweet. And I'll call you Ms. Fields while you help me. P**

**On second thoughts…**

**Fine. Ms. F then?**

**Nope**

**Miss?**

**The number you are trying to text has not been recognized. Please do your math homework and try again later.**

Paige had a huge smile on her face as she read the last message. She really liked Emily.

She threw her phone down on her bed when she got home and pulled out her math homework.

* * *

The next day Emily and Paige met at their usual spot.

Emily smiled as Paige approached and gave her a strange look.

"What?" Emily said looking puzzled.

"Why are you sat on the ground weirdo, there's a bench right there!"

"I like the grass, it's more comfortable." Emily said, as Paige offered her a hand to help her stand up.

Paige wasn't as talkative this morning. Emily took this opportunity to ask Paige a question that had been on her mind since lunch yesterday. "Why didn't you tell the girls that your girlfriend broke up with you?" she blurted out. "It seems like your all really close?"

"Who said she broke up with me?" Paige smirked at Emily.

"Wow. Paige McCullers the heart breaker, who would've thought it. I didn't take you for the love um' and leave um' type." Emily joked back.

This is why Paige liked Emily.

Paige didn't respond to Emily's 'heart breaker' comment, but Emily wasn't finished. She suddenly worked up the courage to as, "So what happened?"

"Honestly?"

"No Paige. I want you to lie to me if possible. Of course honestly!"

"Wow. You're sassy today Fields."

They continued walking for a few more moments, Paige trying to figure out how to word this without sounding, well, void of emotions.

"Nothing happened." Paige finally said.

"Nothing?" Emily looked confused.

"Yeah. Well, I just realized while I was camping with my parents for two weeks that I didn't really miss her. Shit. No. That sounds mean." This wasn't how Paige wanted to sound at all.

Paige continued to try her best to explain to Emily that she just didn't feel butterflies. Jamie was a great person…but there was no 'spark'.

"I just wanted it to feel like fireworks, crazy feelings you know. I think we only really started dating because we were both gay. People just kinda expected us to date" Paige finished.

"How did she take it?" Emily asked.

"Really well, thankfully. I think she almost felt the same way. That's why I didn't tell anyone, I didn't think they'd understand because there was no big argument or anything."

Emily looked Paige in the eyes and understood what Paige was saying. "I think I understand what you mean. I've been on a few dates in the past, but I've never had that feeling in my stomach or that tingling when our hands touched."

"Do you think it exists, or have we been watching too many romance movies?" Paige smiled at Emily again.

Emily couldn't help but smile back at Paige and look her in the eyes as she said, "I think it exists".

Emily didn't just 'think' that it existed. She knew it did, at least in some small way, because that's the way she had felt about Paige from the first day. As much as she'd tried to deny it and blame the feelings on other things, deep down inside she felt that way about Paige. That feeling in her stomach that got worse when she was around her, the way her heart beat faster even just at the mention of Paige's name, and most of all the feeling she got whenever they had touched.

They hadn't touched many times. A bump of shoulders here and there and then this morning when she had held Paige's hand as she had pulled her up from the grass. But the feelings were there.

Paige simply smiled in acceptance of Emily's response and opened the door to enter the pool.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that day at lunch we discussed the time that we were all going to meet at Spencer's and Paige offered to meet Emily so that she could show her how to get there.

* * *

The next day Paige had already set off from her house to meet at their usual spot when she got a text.

**Can I ask you a huge favour? Em**

**Sure. P**

**This is kinda embarrassing, but my mom really wants to meet one of my friends before we all hang out together. To make sure you're not an axe murder, I guess. Could you come meet me from here?**

**No problem, just give me 10 minutes. Gotta turn around now and take this axe back home. I knew I shouldn't have brought it.**

Emily sent Paige her exact address and five minutes later there was a small knock at the door.

Emily went to open the door with her mom standing behind her.

"Hey, Em. Hello Mrs. Fields" Paige said holding it out to shake Pam's hand. "Nice to meet you."

They all chatted together for a few minutes, Paige being her usual charming self before Emily asked, "So, does she pass the test mom?"

"Of course she does Emily. I just wanted to put a face to one of the names you've been talking about."

With that Emily gave her mom a short hug and they said goodbye.

On the walk Emily mocked Paige for the way she had said hello to her mom. "You're so polite" Emily joked.

"What did you want me to do? Barge in yelling 'What up' and give her a high five." Paige joked back.

They continued this kind of comfortable banter until they reached Spencer's.

Emily noticed that Paige was just as polite to Spencer's mom when she had opened the door to let them in and then she marvelled at how beautiful Spencer's house was as they made their way through it to get to the back garden, where the barn was.

Paige led the way, obviously having been there many times before, and they were greeted happily by the other three girls as they entered.

It was around 6pm, so they ordered food and sat around chatting while they were waiting for it to arrive.

Paige knew she was going to have to answer some questions about Jamie eventually but it had only been about two minutes when Spencer said, "So spill. What's the deal with you and Jamie?"

Paige tried her best to explain to them that, even though she had initiated it, they'd decided together that they were better at just being friends. She didn't explain in as much detail as she had to Emily, but hopefully she got the point across that she wasn't upset and that she would remain friends with Jamie. Paige ended with, "Just because two people are gay, doesn't mean that they're going to like each other in that way."

This seemed to satisfy the other girls and thankfully the topic of conversation moved on.

Emily was having a great time hanging out with Paige and the other girls. They were fun to be around and all had such different personalities.

Emily found out that swimming wasn't the only sport that Paige was good at. Apparently she also played soccer and basketball, but Paige played it down when the other girls talked about how amazing she was at soccer.

They ate Chinese food and watched a few different movies that they had all seen before. The movies were more like background noise as they continued to chat and joke about different things.

Overall it was a great night. Emily had sat next to Paige for most of it and often found herself staring at Paige in admiration. She was so beautiful and funny.

At around 11pm Aria started to look like she was going to fall asleep. "Late night last night, Aria?" Hanna said winking. "Maybe" she smirked in reply.

Throughout the night Emily discovered that Aria was kind of seeing someone, but that she wasn't willing to tell anyone who he was exactly. She insisted that whoever he was, that they were just good friends and she couldn't tell them any more.

"Alright then. Let's get you home for your much needed beauty sleep. Paige, Emily, do you guys need a ride home? I've got my mom's car." Hanna asked.

Paige and Emily looked at each other before Paige said, "I think I'll just walk, thanks. But if you're scared of the bears Emily you can get a ride."

"Bears?" Spencer laughed. "Has she been telling you there're bears here?"

"Spencer! Come on. You ruin everything, up until now I had her pretty convinced!"

"No, you didn't." Emily jumped it giving Paige a small push as she said it. "I think I'll walk." She continued whilst making a funny face at Paige.

They all gave each other little hugs as they said goodbye and Emily and Paige set off walking home.

They chatted quietly about the night and funny things they had all said when Paige started, "So I don't know if it's your thing or not but I was thinking of seeing if everyone wanted to go camping the weekend after next. Maybe just Friday and Saturday night, you know, before the weather gets too cold."

"I'd love to. What about the other girls, Hanna and Aria don't really seem like the camping type!"

"Hanna will be fine as long as she can bring Caleb. Aria, on the other hand, usually takes a little more convincing! Maybe we can persuade her to bring her 'friend'"!

"Perfect, I can't wait!"

They continued to walk home. Every few steps Emily would feel Paige's hand brush against hers, which made her take a sharp short breath. 'Breathe Emily, breathe' she was saying to herself every time it happened. 'It's just a hand'. This happened for a good five minutes, neither one of them moving further away to stop the contact.

It was at that moment that Emily fully admitted to herself that her feelings weren't just admiration for Paige, but that she did actually really like her and had been developing a huge crush on her that had only grown since she had found out that Paige wasn't actually in a relationship.

But then Emily remembered what Paige had said earlier. What was it? 'Just because two people are gay, doesn't mean that they're going to like each other in that way.' What if that happened with her and Paige? What if Emily told Paige she was gay and that she liked her and Paige didn't feel the same. Paige might get awkward and she might stop wanting to hang out with Emily and truthfully the best parts of her day were the walks to and from school. They were the reason she got up so early and they were the only thing making the school day bearable.

Paige stopped and looked at Emily. Emily hadn't realized that they had arrived at their spot. She had been deep in her own thoughts.

"Are you okay from here, or do you want me to walk you the rest of the way to your house?" Paige said.

"I'm fine, thanks though. Now I know there aren't any bears!"

"So you did believe me, I knew it!" Paige smiled in triumph while Emily just looked a little embarrassed.

Seeing how cute Emily looked when she was embarrassed gave Paige the sudden urge and confidence to hug her. They had all hugged goodbye when they had left Spencer's, so why not, right?

The sudden embrace from Paige took Emily a little by surprise. The butterflies she felt in her stomach increased tenfold from when their hands had brushed past each other. Then Paige whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I won't tell people how gullible you are." The feel of Paige's light breath against her ear sent the butterflies sky-rocketing.

This hug was different. It lasted longer than the ones Emily had shared with the other girls and as they eventually relinquished their grips on one another there was a split second where they looked into each other's eyes before both looking at the ground.

Paige caught her breath and managed to say, "Goodnight Emily. Text me to let me know when you're home safely?"

All Emily could manage to do in that moment was gently nod her head.

Paige turned around and walked away. A few moments later she turned around to see Emily still standing there before finally turning to leave herself.

Paige had seen something in Emily's eyes. It made her feel something she had never felt before.

It felt like...fireworks.


	6. Chapter 6

Emily spent most of the rest of the weekend over analysing the last moments she had spent with Paige.

The hug she could pass off as just being friendly, but the way Paige had looked into her eyes, that was a different matter. She saw something in those big beautiful eyes that she had never seen before and now she couldn't get them out of her head.

That was her thinking one moment. The next she was thinking something completely different, shaking off what had happened as something else. 'Paige is just really friendly and sometimes intense' she thought. Maybe that's just her way. Emily wanted to get to know Paige better, no she needed to. She needed to watch the way she interacted with other people. Did she always give amazing hugs and look people into people's eyes? Or was Emily special.

Emily knew which one she would rather be true.

Emily had only been in Rosewood for a few weeks and she already couldn't stop thinking about Paige. It was driving her crazy. Emily had never felt like this before.

When Emily had first admitted to herself that she might be gay it hadn't been because of any one she knew. She had just felt differently about females in general. Emily was relatively popular at her old school. She had a nice group of friends that included both males and females and got on really well with both. Emily loved talking with girls about fashion, t.v. shows and celebrities, but she also liked talking to boys about sports and other stuff. Sometimes the boys in her group of friends took this as a sign that they should ask her out on a date. She would go out with them and have a great time, but she hated that pressure of having to kiss them. It just never felt right. Of course, this had at first led her to believe that she just hadn't found the right one, but eventually Emily had felt a sense of relief when she finally acknowledged that it wasn't the boys she was dating – it was the fact that they WERE boys.

This was a relatively new event in Emily's life. Only over the last 6 months or so had she felt comfortable, if only in her head, admitting that she was gay. She hadn't become comfortable enough with it yet that she was able to tell her friends, even her best friend Sarah. She anticipated that at some point in the future she would find the courage to tell them, but then they had upped and moved to Rosewood and that was that.

In a way Emily was glad they moved because she was scared she might be almost forced to admit it sooner than she was ready to. She was sixteen years old and she had the feeling that people were starting to find it strange that she had never really dated boys and especially that she never showed an active interest in any.

Moving to Rosewood was a fresh start. She didn't plan on telling everyone that she was gay, but she also didn't plan on out right denying it. It felt like there was less pressure here. People hadn't known her her whole life. It also helped that Paige was out and comfortable. It paved the way for Emily. The only problem was her feelings towards Paige, which were growing stronger and stronger with every moment they spent together.

Emily needed to take things one step at a time. Get to know Paige and the other girls and hopefully for now she could deal with these brand new feelings she was having. The camping trip would be a great excuse to get to know them better. Emily couldn't wait.

* * *

Paige and Emily didn't walk to school together that Monday morning. They hadn't been swimming on Monday mornings as the coach was always quite hard on them at the first evening practice after the weekend. Emily's mom had insisted that she give Emily a lift to school and Paige had politely declined the offer of a lift with them.

At lunch that day Paige talked to all the other girls about going camping and everyone seemed excited. As predicted, Hanna's first question was if she could bring Caleb. "Won't he mind being the only boy. Or maybe, Aria?" Spencer questioned.

"Not gonna happen" was all Aria said.

"Hanna laughed, "Are you kidding. Caleb, the only guy in the woods, surrounded by girls. He'll love it!"

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly. They were training hard for the first meet of the year which was this Friday.

When Friday afternoon came around Emily was full of adrenaline and ready to race. They were competing against a few other schools about 30 minutes away from Rosewood.

Everyone was supposed to meet in the parking lot outside of school and got onto a small bus that would drive them to the meet. When Emily got there some of the other swimmers were already on the bus, whilst others were just standing outside. She didn't see Paige so just decided to go find a seat.

As Emily was looking for a seat she spotted Paige giving her a small wave and gesturing for her to sit next to her. Emily smiled and sat next to Paige who was listening to some music on her Ipod. Without saying anything Paige simply removed one of her ear buds and handed it to Emily. Emily took it from Paige, their hands coming into gentle contact as she did so, and Paige closed her eyes. They stayed like this for the entire bus ride, both listening to soft, gentle music with their eyes closed. Emily couldn't help herself from stealing quick glances and Paige every now and then. Each time she did though she noticed a small smile spread across Paige's face as if she could sense that she was being looked at.

The whole week Emily had been looking at the way Paige was around other people. Sure, Paige was friendly and polite to everyone. She gave the other girls small hugs and gentle pushes when they were joking around. But, Emily never witnessed the eye contact that they had shared the previous Saturday night.

Did Paige feel the same way as Emily did?

Emily was shaken out of her day dreaming by the coach giving instructions about what would happen at the meet.

It's fair to say that the swim meet was a huge success for the Rosewood girls. Emily and Paige swam brilliantly, winning their respective races and the relay. The coach had decided to not race them against each other for the first meet, instead giving them different lengths to race.

After all the races had finished Emily went to go wait outside the pool entrance for the rest of the team to finish getting changed. As she left the changing room she noticed Paige hugging a taller dark haired girl that Emily didn't recognize.

* * *

"Jamie!" Paige shouted. The other girl turned around, "Paige, long time no see stranger."

It was true. Paige hadn't seen Jamie since they had decided to just be friends. It wasn't a conscious decision, they had both just been busy starting up the new school year.

They asked how each other were, and Jamie explained that she was just here to support her friend after a busy week at school.

"Who's that new swimmer on your team She's super-fast." Jamie asked.

"That's Emily, she just moved to Rosewood a few weeks ago." Paige said, as she glanced over at Emily who she could see standing near the exit.

"She's hot too. You should go for it."

"Go for what?" Paige said unable to hold back a small smile.

"You know what!" Jamie said playfully.

"She might not be gay." Paige said in a questioning way, almost hoping that Jamie would be able to give her the answer.

"Are you crazy? Did you gaydar not come through yet? You should reapply for that you know." Jamie looked over at Emily and then at Paige before continuing. "Well, I don't know if she is gay or not, I've never spoken to her, but I can tell from a mile away that she's at least a little in to you."

Paige just smiled and they both started to walk over to where Emily and the rest of the team were standing. "Emily, this is Jamie. Jamie, this is Emily" Paige introduced the two girls.

"Nice to meet you Emily, good job out there, you were fantastic." Jamie smiled at Emily.

"Thanks." Was all that Emily could think of in reply.

The three girls stood around chatting for a few minutes, Jamie not so subtly glancing backwards and forwards between the two other girls, before the coach announced that it was time to get on the bus.

Paige hugged Jamie goodbye and they both agreed that they should hang out soon.

Any small pang of jealousy that Emily was feeling was alleviated when she felt Paige's arm hook around hers as they walked towards the bus. They sat down in the same seats as before and Paige pulled out her IPod.

A few minutes later Paige felt the buzz of her phone. Emily opened her eyes from the movement of Paige reaching into her pocket to retrieve the phone. Emily didn't mean to look but she saw on the screen the words 'New message from Jamie'. Emily quickly closed her eyes not wanting to be creepy and read Paige's text messages.

Paige opened the message.

**Beep, Beep, Beep.**

She hit reply, **What does that mean?**

**Oh, sorry. That was just the sound of my gaydar going off. **

Paige smiled and put the phone back in her pocket. She didn't want Emily to see the message in case she figured out what or who it was about. In that moment Paige couldn't help but start to dream that maybe Emily was gay and that in a perfect world would want to be with her too.

Paige was feeling tired from swimming and rested her head on Emily's shoulder. Paige couldn't see, but this caused a huge smile to spread across Emily's face. They stayed peacefully in this position until they arrived back in Rosewood.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day was Saturday and Emily didn't have any plans for the weekend so she decided that now would be a good time to do some homework.

Emily was trying her best to concentrate but every few minutes her mind would drift to thinking about Paige. She remembered the feeling of complete contempt as Paige's head rested against her shoulder the previous day. It had taken all of Emily's will power not to brush the hair out of Paige's face or to stoke the hand that had accidently fallen next to her thigh. Paige had been in a deep sleep for the entire bus ride home, which had taken a lot longer than expected because of traffic. For once Emily was thankful for traffic. She hadn't been able to fall asleep herself because her heart had been beating so fast that she was having trouble breathing.

Emily was brought out of this trance by the beep of her phone. It was a message from Paige.

**Hey. I don't suppose you're free to help me with math homework? Don't worry if you're busy. P**

**I'm not busy. Do you want to come here? Em**

**See you in 20? P**

**Perfect. Em**

Emily looked around her room, which still had a few boxes thrown in the corner and decided she should at least try and make it look a little more presentable. She had just enough time to move some boxes out of the way and make herself look presentable before she heard a knock at the door.

Emily opened the door to see a smiling Paige, book bag in hand.

"Hey. Thanks for helping me, I guess I was a little distracted in class this week and I don't remember a single thing anyone said. Should I say 'hi' to your mom?" Paige seemed a little on edge.

"My mom is out running some errands, she should be back soon. Wanna head upstairs?" Emily said pointing in the direction of her bedroom.

Paige decided she needed to shake off the tension before she got even more nervous about being alone in Emily's house, "Wow. We haven't even been on a first date and you're inviting me up to your room."

At first Emily was taken aback, but after a few seconds managed to find a response, "What can I say, your charm is just too strong for me to resist."

"Understandable." Paige nodded in response.

When they reached Emily's room, Paige put her books on the desk and opened them up to the pages she was struggling with.

"But you have the answers already?" Emily looked confused.

"Ha, yeah! I copied the answers from someone else; I just need to figure out how you get the answer!"

Emily spent about ten minutes effortlessly demonstrating to Paige how the problems worked.

"Alright, I think I've got it. I should try and do some on my own. Do you mind if I stay here, in case I get stuck again?" Paige asked.

"Stay as long as you want, do you want to sit at the desk?" Emily meant this whole heartedly. She wanted Paige to stay for as long as possible and couldn't imagine being sad if she ended up never leaving.

"I hate sitting at desks, makes me think I'm in school, can I just sit here?" Paige motioned to the window seat.

Emily decided it was probably best to get on with some of her own homework whilst Paige was doing hers. They studied in silence for several minutes before Emily glanced over to see that Paige had a confused look on her face. Emily slowly stood up before sitting next to Paige on the window seat and asking, "What's up?"

"I don't get it. I've done everything like you showed me but somehow the answers don't match up."

"Maybe some of the answers are wrong, let me look" Emily said.

Paige's math book was resting on her bent legs and Emily gently moved her hand out of the way so that she could see. Emily took a few minutes before saying, "The answers you have are right, you forgot to factor in these numbers here." Emily reached her hand between Paige's arms to point to the numbers. Paige couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of Emily next to her. Their arms were tangled together and Paige couldn't stop herself from looking at Emily.

Emily sensing that Paige wasn't looking at the math book anymore lifted her head to look deep into Paige's eyes.

"Do…you…erm…get it now?" Was all Emily could force herself to say. Paige nodded and immediately missed the contact as Emily stood up and walked over to her desk.

'Shit, shit, shit. I just messed everything up' was all that Paige could think in that moment, but she was pleasantly surprised when Emily returned just a moment later and sat down back next to her.

Emily had freaked out a little. She had been looking into Paige's eyes and all she had wanted to do was lean in and kiss her, but she bottled it. She'd stood up to get the book that they were supposed to read for English and immediately felt stupid. In a split second decision Emily decided that the best thing she could do was to go and sit back down next to Paige. So that's what she did. This time though she sat with her back against the wall, so that she was looking in Paige's direction.

Emily was trying her best to concentrate on the reading, but over the top of her book she could see Paige who looked so cute when she was concentrating. Every now and then she would look confused again for a second, then shake her head and continue.

They carried on sitting like this for around thirty minutes before they heard someone come in through the front door and a moment later Emily's mom walked past before saying, "Oh, hello Paige. I didn't know you would be here."

Paige sat up straight before saying, "Yeah. Emily kindly offered to help me with my math homework. She's amazing at it."

This made Emily blush a little, "I'm not that good."

Pam looked at her daughter proudly before saying, "Paige, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"I would love to, but I promised my mom that I would have dinner with her as my dad is working tonight."

"Ah, no problem. Maybe some other time. What about Wednesday after swimming practice?" Pam looked at Paige hopefully. Emily noticed this and it made her happy that her mom seemed to like Paige and wanted to get to know her.

Paige smiled brightly and said, "Wednesday is perfect, my parents both work late in the week so I usually just eat on my own."

"See you on Wednesday then Paige!" Pam said before leaving Emily and Paige alone again.

Paige looked over at the clock in Emily's room and realized that she had been there for longer than she had told her mom she would be. "Opps. I really better get going, my mom probably already has dinner made. See you on Monday at school?"

Emily smiled sadly and walked Paige to the door. She wanted Paige to stay forever. She couldn't believe that after only a few weeks she had become so totally attached to someone. Being around Paige was just so comfortable. Not wanting to say goodbye so soon Emily said, "Do you mind if I walk with you, I haven't had any fresh air all day?"

Paige smiled and Emily quickly shouted to her mom that she would be back in fifteen minutes.

They walked slowly down the street in the direction of Paige's house. They chatted a little about the plans for the following weekends camping trip and a few other things. When there were a few moments of silence Emily found herself staring at Paige as they walked. She just couldn't help it.

Paige could see Emily looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She was becoming more and more convinced that Emily might be gay. They had definitely shared a moment earlier, she was almost positive that Emily was about to kiss her before she stood up. She just needed to give Emily time. Paige was willing to wait as long as it took. Emily was worth it.

* * *

Paige and Emily continued their usual routine, until it got to Wednesday. Instead of saying goodbye to each other at their usual spot, they continued the walk to Emily's house. When they got there Emily's mom wasn't home yet so they decided to sit in the living room and watch some T.V. to relax. Despite there being a huge sofa and two other armchairs, they ended up sitting so close to each other that Paige could feel the heat radiating from Emily.

Paige was willing to wait as long as it took for Emily to be comfortable enough to possibly, if her instincts and what Jamie had said were correct, tell her that she was gay. But, Paige was also curious to find out more about Emily. She started off by asking Emily innocent questions about her friends and teammates at her previous school? Who were her best friends? That sort of thing. So far Emily wasn't really revealing much. Emily had mentioned a few boys names but none of the specifically enough to give Paige the impression that they had been her boyfriend. Eventually she got tired of dancing around the subject and just went for it. "So, did you leave anyone special behind crying and broken-hearted?" This made Emily let out a small chuckle, "Nope".

"Seriously? Someone as beautiful as you must have had some admirers" Paige blushed a little at the fact that she had basically admitted that she thought Emily was beautiful.

"I don't know. I went on a few, what I suppose you would call 'dates', with some of my guy friends. But nothing ever came of them. I just liked them as friends." It was Emily' turn to blush this time, had she made it too obvious? Now Paige was looking deep into her eyes with a questioning look, almost willing Emily to tell her more. They sat like this for what seemed like forever before Pam returned from work.

"Hi girls. Good day at school?"

They exchanged pleasantries and Pam told them that dinner would be ready in thirty minutes. After Pam had left the room Emily simply stared at the television, her heart beating faster than it ever had before. All she could think was 'Paige knows, she knows I'm gay. She knows something that no-one else in the whole world knows'.

By the time dinner was ready Emily had calmed down a little as she tried to forget any worries she was having. She simply tried to enjoy the moment instead. Paige was so charming and eloquent in the way that she spoke at the dinner table. She answered any questions that Emily's mom asked her and politely asked questions in return.

After dinner Paige offered to help clear up, but being a proud hostess, Pam wouldn't let her and Paige announced that it was time for her to leave. It was getting late and Emily offered to walk with her part of the way again.

They walked silently until out of nowhere Emily said, "You know, don't you?"

Paige suspected what Emily might be talking about, but she couldn't quite be 100% sure, so she just quietly said, "Know what?"

"Are you going to make me tell you?" Emily was visibly scared.

"Emily" Paige started before looking deep into Emily's eyes, "I would never make you tell me anything."

By this point they had reached 'their spot'. They stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity before Emily whispered so quietly that Paige could barely hear it, "See you on Monday, Paige."

Then she was gone and Paige was left standing there, unable to move. Had Emily been about to tell her?

* * *

"I like Paige. She's definitely a keeper." Pam smiled at her daughter as she returned home.

Emily smiled back but wondered if her mom would still like Paige if she knew the feelings that Emily had for her. Feelings that friends didn't have for each other. Feelings that made Emily want to kiss Paige every time she saw her.

Emily said goodnight and headed upstairs. Paige definitely knew. Emily had wanted to tell her so badly but for some reason the words wouldn't come out. She took out her phone and typed,

**I'm not good with words. X**

Emily sat staring at her phone for a full twenty minutes. Nothing. She decided that watching the phone wasn't going to make Paige text back so she got ready for bed.

When she returned from brushing her teeth she checked her phone and finally saw a new message from Paige.

**I understand. When you're ready remember actions can speak louder than words. X**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the wait! You know, life and stuff!**

**Thank you for all the fantastic reviews, it's kind of overwhelming how positive everyone has been! Thanks!**

Friday afternoon finally came around and all the plans had been made for the camping trip. Hanna and Caleb were going to drive in one car and the other four girls in another. Right after school Emily headed home to quickly gather all the stuff she needed before Spencer came to pick her up. Emily didn't have a tent so she was going to be sharing with Aria, which left Paige with Spencer. Part of Emily had hoped to be sharing with Paige and part of her was relieved.

When Spencer arrived Paige and Aria were already in the car, so there next stop was the campsite which was a little under two hours away.

They arrived at the campsite and met Hanna and Caleb in the car park. It was a beautiful place with just the right amount of people and facilities to make it not so scary, but also quiet enough that they wouldn't be bothered by anyone. The area was packed with trees and you had to drive down dirt paths to find a place to camp.

They found a perfect spot not too far from the lake and set up their tents. Paige looked so comfortable being outdoors. She set up her tent in no time and then helped Aria and Emily set up theirs. Then she made a fire so that they could cook hotdogs and hamburgers. By the time they had finished eating it was almost dark and had become quite cold. Paige noticed that Emily was shivering a little so asked her if she would like a blanket. Emily nodded and Paige headed to the car to grab one.

"Hey Aria, there's another blanket in her, do you want it" Paige shouted. Aria also nodded and when Paige handed it to her she placed it over herself and Spencer.

Paige sat back down next to Emily and gently covered her. Emily looked at Paige and lifted the blanket, inviting Paige to join her underneath it. Paige shuffled closer to Emily and relaxed into their new position.

The sky was now completely black which meant that the only source of light was the fire. Emily could feel the heat from Paige's body as their shoulders pressed against each other's. The other girls were all chatting about something, but Emily wasn't sure what because all she could think about was Paige. She needed to feel more of her. Emily's hand left hand was mere centimetres from Paige's and she couldn't resist anymore. Slowly she shifted the position of her arm so that her hand could search for Paige's. When Emily's index finger found Paige's hand she felt a rush of excitement all the way through her arm and settle in her stomach. She let her finger rest there for a second, waiting to see the other girls reaction. Paige didn't pull away, which gave Emily the confidence to continue.

It was now or never. Emily hadn't been able to find the words, so it was time for the actions.

Slowly, so that the other girls wouldn't see, she continued to move her hand until it fully intertwined with Paige's.

* * *

Emily was holding her hand. Paige couldn't believe what was happening all she knew was that it felt right. Their hands fitted together perfectly. Paige's heart was beating at 100mph and she was finding it difficult to breath. 'Emily is holding my hand, what do I do?' she thought to herself. She wanted to do something to show Emily that this was okay, that it was what she wanted, so she took her other hand and began to stroke the back of Emily's hand that she was currently holding. Emily didn't look at her, but she couldn't help but notice the small smile that spread across Emily's face. If any of the other girls had looked at them at that moment they would have thought they both looked crazy. Paige took a deep breath and began to relax. This felt right, Emily felt right.

They remained like this for the rest of the evening. After a little while they had both managed to become part of the other's conversations. They never let go of each other and Paige's free hand was either tracing small patterns over Emily's or resting gently on top of it.

It was getting late and Aria announced that she was heading to bed. "Are you coming, Emily?" She said. Emily didn't want to let go of Paige's hand but she was feeling really tired after a long week so she nodded that she was ready to get some sleep.

Emily was unaware that Spencer was looking at her and Paige. Emily whispered goodnight to Paige and stood up, only releasing Paige's hand at the last possible moment.

Spencer stared curiously at Paige who looked back at her like someone who had just been caught. Shit, had Spencer seen them. It must have been only a split second that their hands were touching whilst not being covered by the blanket. Nothing ever got past Spencer. Paige always thought that she would make a great detective.

Paige was looking at the ground as Aria and Emily made their way into their tent. Paige then stood up and Spencer followed as they too headed to bed.

Paige was laying on her back trying to avoid any conversation with Spencer, but she could feel the other girls' eyes burning into the side of her face.

"What" Paige finally gave in.

Spencer immediately replied, but in a whisper. "What do you mean what? Were you holding Emily's hand?"

"I don't know. Maybe. She was just cold."

"Me and Aria were cold and I can tell you for sure that we weren't holding hands under a blanket. Is Emily gay?"

"I don't know." Paige said, not wanting to out Emily before she was ready. "Can we just not talk about this, and please don't mention it to anyone else."

"Paige, of course I won't, you know that. Just promise me you won't get hurt and don't hurt her either. Everyone really likes hanging out with her."

Paige nodded. She knew that Spencer would be careful with what she knew.

"Do you really like her, like more than you did Jamie?"

Paige thought about the difference between the feelings she had for Emily now and what it had felt like when she was with Jamie. Jamie was cool to hang out with, but with Emily it was different. Any second they weren't together Emily was all she could think about and when there were together she was happier than she had ever imagined possible.

"It's not even close" was all Paige said in response.

Spencer rolled onto her back smiling, "I hope this works out, you guys would make the cutest couple."

* * *

The next day they spent the morning hiking and in the afternoon they all sat by the lake. The days were still warm enough to sunbathe a little, which obviously made all the girls very happy.

Emily and Paige were the only ones brave enough to swim in the lake, which was a little chilly. Spencer watch them joking around with each other and could see that they were both genuinely happy in each other's company.

After spending the afternoon at the lake they all decided to take showers in the nearby shower block before cooking dinner.

"I'm going to go and collect wood for the fire." Paige announced. Not wanting to be away from Paige, Emily decided to join her. They had spent all day together and unless you had been looking for it, you wouldn't have noticed the touches they shared or the way they held each other's eye contact for just a little longer than friends normally would. But Emily still needed to be close to Paige. She couldn't bear not being with her even for ten minutes, so they started walking into the woods in search of some large logs for the fire.

They walked aimlessly, not really searching too hard for wood. As they walked their hands brushed together. The third or fourth time they touched Emily seized the opportunity and hooked Paige's little finger with her own. As she did this she stopped dead but didn't let go of Paige's finger. This caused Paige to spin around so that they were looking directly at each other.

Emily carefully took a step forward so that their heads were only a few inches apart. She was breathing heavily and could hear Paige doing the same. Need overtook the nerves she was feeling as she slowly leaned in to kiss Paige softly on the lips. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it was perfect. Paige was perfect.

As their lips parted they rested their foreheads against each other's, still breathing heavily. Both of their eyes were closed as Paige whispered, "You okay?" Emily nodded and slowly they both opened their eyes. Emily looked deeply into Paige's eyes and in that moment nothing else mattered. Just her and Paige. Emily furthered confirmed that she was more than okay by tilting her head to kiss Paige gently again before taking a deep breath and saying, "We should probably find some firewood." Paige agreed and they set back in the direction of their campsite.

They walked slowly through the trees but this time they were fully holding hands and Paige's mind was working overtime. 'Emily kissed me and now she's holding my hand, am I dreaming? Please tell me I'm not dreaming' was all that she could think. They stopped and let go of their grip on each other as they found a large stack of wood. Emily suddenly realised that she had been the one to initiate everything up until this point, nerves suddenly washed over her. "Paige. Are you okay? I mean with…" Paige didn't let her finish her sentence before placing her hand on the back of Emily's neck and saying, "I'm okay if you're okay." Paige then turned, picked up the wood and started walking back to their tents.

Emily followed behind her knowing that everything had changed, and she didn't regret it one bit.

When they returned with the firewood Paige could feel Spencer staring at her, but chose to ignore it. Spencer had this thing where she needed to know everything but Paige wasn't willing to give anything away about Emily. She was special and deserved respect, Paige wasn't going to tell Spencer anything without Emily knowing.

That night was a little warmer than the previous so they decided that they should play some games. They played cards, charades and a weird game that everyone was pretty sure Hanna had made up. Either way everyone was having a great time, in fact, Emily didn't remember ever having this much fun.

Every now and then Emily would look over at Paige and notice her deep in thought. What was Paige thinking about? Emily decided to put any doubts to the back of her mind and to just enjoy the night. Paige had kissed her too, right. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't feel something for Emily too?

* * *

It was around 1am when Caleb and Hanna decided to call it a night and they were soon followed by Aria. This left Spencer, Paige and Emily alone by the slowly dying fire. They continued to chat and tell not very scary stories until Spencer stood up and announced she was also heading to bed. "You coming, Paige?"

"Maybe in five minutes, I'll wait for the fire to die down a little more and then put it out."

Spencer smiled and said goodnight to the two remaining girls.

For the first time since they had shared a brief kiss, they were alone. Emily smiled at Paige who was sitting on a blanket on the other side of the fire. Suddenly she felt nervous, a million different questions racing through her mind. Paige, sensing Emily's discomfort patted the blanked next to her to signal for Emily to join her, which Emily did.

When Emily sat down next to her, Paige lay down and began to point at the stars. "See that constellation there? It's Urmatapia."

Emily lay down next to Paige to see what she was pointing at. "It forms the ancient Greek symbol for peace" Paige continued.

"Wow, I didn't know you knew so much about stars. I'm impressed."

Paige turned to Emily and smiled, "I don't. I just made that up. Pretty convincing though?"

Emily gave Paige a playful shove, never breaking eye contact with her.

"Emily. Are you okay, I mean with what happened?"

Emily nodded, "Are you?"

Paige gave Emily her biggest smile and returned to looking at the sky. They both laid there in silence until the fire was almost completely out. At some point their hands had found each other's and their fingers were entwined. Paige had never been happier than in this moment but she knew it was really late and she could feel Emily shivering slightly next to her. Paige stood up and smiled at Emily, "I guess we should head to bed too, I need my beauty sleep!"

Emily looked a little sad that Paige was no longer lying next to her, but she knew she was right.

Paige offered both her hands to Emily to help her stand up. When they were both fully upright Paige didn't let go of Emily's hands. They were stood staring into each other's eyes. Paige couldn't stop herself even if she had wanted to. She leaned in and kissed Emily. This time the kiss was much passionate. Paige was more confident this time and snaked her arms around Emily's waist to bring her closer. Emily brought her hands up to Paige's shoulders, more to steady herself than anything else. Emily felt like her legs had been turned to jelly. Kissing Paige felt amazing, like nothing else in the world mattered, like this is what she was put on this earth to do – Kiss Paige.

After a few minutes they gently pulled away before Emily whispered into Paige's ear, "Goodnight", placed a kiss on her neck and turned to enter her tent.

Paige stood there frozen thinking 'wow'. That was amazing. The first time they had shared a kiss earlier that day had been like nothing she had ever felt before, but this was something else. Kissing Emily was indescribable and all she wanted to do was do it again.

As Paige put out the last sparks of the fire and got into bed all she thought was, 'please don't let this be a dream'. All Paige wanted to do was kiss Emily again and again and again.


	9. Chapter 9

**A kind of short update. Thanks for the follows and feedback. Thanks!**

The next morning Emily woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. It had taken her a long time to get to sleep the night before because all she could think about was Paige. About how beautiful and perfect she was and about how much she hoped that they would get the opportunity to kiss again. Despite the lack of sleep Emily decided she couldn't lay down anymore, she needed to get up and do something to take her mind off of Paige. She quietly opened the tent, as not to awake Aria, and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.

The tents were positioned so that they all opened onto the campfire. As Emily stepped out she noticed Paige sitting quietly reading next to the unlit fire.

The need to be near to Paige made Emily go and sit right next to her. Paige never looked up from her book as Emily sat down, closer than 'just friends' would sit, but Emily noticed Paige smile as she did so.

They sat in silence as Paige read and Emily simply enjoyed the feeling of being close to the person she was undeniably falling for. After a few minutes Emily rested her head on Paige's shoulder and immediately felt her hand being gripped by the other girl. They sat like this for a long time. Paige was struggling to hold the book with one hand and turn the Paige at the same time, but she didn't seem to mind the slight inconvenience.

A while later they began to here a few of the others begin to wake up. Not wanting to stop being this close to Emily just yet Paige stood up, never letting go of Emily's hand, and said, "Do you want to go for a walk?" Emily didn't answer, instead simply standing and walking hand in hand with Paige until they were far enough away from their tents that they couldn't be seen or heard anymore. As soon as Emily had decided they were far enough away she swung Paige around and pushed her gently against a nearby tree. She looked deep into Paige's eyes before gently leaning in to kiss her again. This kiss was more intense than their previous ones, like neither of them ever wanted it to end. Emily pushed her body closer so that Paige was effectively squished against Emily and the tree. Paige didn't mind this at all. The feeling of Emily's body against hers was amazing and she couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around Emily to bring her closer still.

They continued kissing until Emily gently pulled away and leaned her forehead against Paige's head. Both of their eyes were still closed and they were breathing heavily.

"I've never done this before." Emily whispered all of a sudden.

"What? Kissed a girl?"

"Kissed anyone" Emily shyly responded.

Paige was a little shocked. How can someone as beautiful as Emily never have been kissed? She immediately realized that this must have been Emily's decision, she was sure that there were, and probably still are, tons of people willing to give their right arm for the chance to kiss Emily. This was confirmed when Emily continued, "It's just that up until recently there hasn't been anyone that I've wanted to kiss."

Paige couldn't think of anything else to say but, "And how was it?"

Emily finally opened her eyes and planted a short but meaningful kiss on Paige's lips before pulling back and saying, "Everything I had hoped it would be, and more."

'Wow' was all Paige could think at this moment. The most beautiful girl she had ever dreamed could exist had kissed her and liked it. Like really liked it. Paige had spent most of the night trying to convince herself that this wasn't just a one time thing, that her and Emily could continue what had happened here after they returned to Rosewood. She had prayed silently to herself that they could and now everything that Emily was saying and doing was showing her that this wasn't just a crazy dream, but that from now on everything would be different between them. A good different though, an amazing different.

They both realized that they should probably return back to reality before anyone got suspicious about why they were gone for so long. They walked slowly back hand in hand. No words had been exchanged between them since Emily had revealed how she felt about kissing Paige.

"What about you?" Emily said at barely above a whisper.

Paige knew exactly what Emily was talking about but needed a minute to think of exactly the right thing that would express exactly how she felt when kissing Emily. Words like fantastic, great, amazing just didn't seem to cut it.

After what seemed like an eternity to Emily, Paige gave her a short but passionate kiss and then whispered into her ear, "like fireworks."

This sent shivers all through Emily's body and she didn't know how she managed to make it all the way back to their tents without collapsing. Her whole body was tingling and her stomach felt like she was on a rollercoaster.

When they had gotten back to the campsite someone had asked them where they had been but Emily was in her own little world thinking about what Paige had just said. Emily was pretty sure that whatever Paige had said to the others had been an acceptable excuse as the next thing she knew they were all sat around chatting while Paige and Caleb made breakfast.

After they ate breakfast they all began to tidy up and take down their tents. Emily didn't want the weekend to be over and the look in Paige's eyes suggested that she felt the same.

They packed up the two cars and said goodbye to Caleb and Hanna who were ready to leave a little bit before the others.

The ride back was quicker than Emily had expected, and all too soon they were pulling into her driveway and it was time to say goodbye. Paige got out of the car to help carry Emily's things into the house but moments later Emily's mom was there next to the car to help instead.

Emily politely introduced Spencer and Aria to her mom. "It's nice to finally meet some more of Emily's friends. Oh, and hello again Paige." "Hi ." Paige said as she could feel Spencer's eyes burning into the side of her head. They all politely said their goodbyes and Paige managed to sneak in a cheeky smile to Emily before they drove away.

Next Spencer dropped off Aria which left Paige and Spencer alone.

"When did you meet Emily's mom before?" Spencer asked.

"Urm…Once before we walked to your house for that movie night and then last week she invited me over for dinner."

"Oh. You never mentioned that. You hiding something Paige?"

"No, of course not. Just didn't think it was worth mentioning." Paige said before sticking her tongue out at Spencer to try and show Spencer that she was reading too much into it.

Thankfully Spencer decided to let it go after that and they drove the rest of the way back to Paige's house just listening to the radio.

* * *

It had been a short but tiring weekend. Emily hadn't slept so well the last few nights as all she had been able to think about was Paige. Holding Paige's hand, kissing Paige, everything Paige.

Emily decided she would try and get an early night to try and catch up on some sleep. Just as her head hit the pillow she heard her phone beep and noticed a new message from Paige.

**I hope you had a good weekend. See you tomorrow at school? Paige x**

Emily quickly hit reply,

**I had an okay weekend, thanks**.

Paige smiled at Emily's reply before receiving another message.

**And, I can't wait to see you tomorrow x**

Reading the message made Paige's heart flutter. A simple message from Emily was having a huge effect on her, and she liked it.


	10. Chapter 10

The first time Emily saw Paige at school the next day was in English class. Paige had been just about to walk over to Emily when another girl had called Paige over to talk to her and then had walked in and started the class.

Like usual, Emily was sat next to Aria. They had been set a short writing task to do in class but Emily couldn't concentrate, she just kept staring blankly into space. After a little while she heard announce that they had 2 minutes to finish their writing before they had to hand it in. Emily looked down at the paper she was supposed to be writing on and realized that all she had written so far was the title. Aria glanced over at Emily and could see the worry in her eyes. "What happened?" She whispered to Emily. "Crap, I don't know." They only had a few minutes to finish writing before they were supposed to be giving them in. "Don't worry." Aria said. "I have an idea. Just hand in the paper like everyone else and then explain to afterwards. He's really nice and if you just tell him you'll hand it in later then he'll be fine." Emily gave Aria a worried look. "Seriously, I promise Emily."

Emily didn't really have any other choice. They had been given over 45 minutes to write anything they wanted as long as it was true and she had written nothing! She folded her piece of paper in half and handed it in like everyone else. At the end of the class Emily waited for everyone to leave before approaching the young teacher.

" . I wanted to talk to you about the writing we did in class."

"Sure Emily. What's up?"

"Well, you see…I…well I didn't write anything. I basically handed you a blank piece of paper. I'm really sorry. I can write it in my lunch break and hand it to you later?"

could see the worry in Emily's eyes and said, "Don't worry Emily. You're a good kid. I'm sure you have a good reason. Just hand it into me tomorrow. I won't have time to grade them until later this week anyway."

Emily gave the teacher a huge smile and said 'thanks'.

Emily knew that she needed to wake up. She couldn't keep daydreaming about Paige through every class otherwise she'd end up with more homework than she would ever have time for.

It was going to be tough though. She hadn't had chance to really see Paige and she just needed one moment with her. One word or look or anything from Paige just to reassure her that everything was okay. Paige hadn't said or done anything to make her feel otherwise, but she just needed something. She needed to be near Paige.

* * *

Emily managed to make it to lunch where she knew she would, as always, get to see Paige.

They were about half way through the lunch period and Paige still hadn't shown up. Eventually Aria asked Hanna, "Where's Paige? She's usually here by now."

"She had to stay behind in math class. We were supposed to finish some pages in the book and Paige hadn't even started them by the end of class so was making her stay and finish." Hanna responded.

Aria looked quizzically over to Emily, who just shrugged. Everyone knew that Paige was exactly the biggest fan of math, so she would probably just use that as an excuse.

Emily could tell what Aria was thinking though. That it was strange that the same thing had happened to her in English, but Aria just smiled and moved the conversation on.

Emily was upset that she still wouldn't be able to see Paige properly. Only 2 more lessons then we have swim practice. I can get through 2 more lessons.

The afternoon dragged along. Emily did her best to actually do the work that she was supposed to, even though looking at the clock every 30 seconds wasn't helping with this task.

When swim practice finally arrived Emily made her way to the changing rooms. When she got there she saw that Paige was already changed and ready to head in to the pool.

"Hey, Emily."

"Hey, Paige. We missed you at lunch."

"Yeah. That sucked. Guess it'll teach me to actually do my work in class!" Paige smiled and turned to leave.

Swim practice went a lot better than the rest of Emily's day had been. She was gliding through the water keeping pace with Paige and matching her stokes perfectly. The coach would blow her whistle every 10 minutes or so to tell them which stroke they should do next. Each time the whistle blew Paige and Emily would look over to each other and smile. Even though they weren't alone or even that close, they were both just content with being near each other for the first time that day.

When the coach blew the whistle for the final time to signal the end of practice, everyone got out of the pool and headed back to the changing rooms. But Emily was called back to have a talk with the coach.

When Emily had finished talking to the coach everyone was already out of the showers, including Paige.

"Is everything okay, Em?"

"Yeah, fine. She just wanted to talk about improving my turn. She actually said you have one of the best turns she had ever seen and was thinking that you could help me?"

Paige blushed slightly at the compliment, but nodded that she would be happy to help.

Emily went to shower quickly and left Paige alone to get changed. By the time she was out of the shower there was only Paige left in the changing room. Paige was laying down on one of the benches with her eyes closed. Emily could sense that she was only doing this because she was feeling a little uncomfortable at the prospect of watching Emily get changed.

"You ready to go now?" Emily asked to signal that she was now fully dressed and Paige could open her eyes.

Paige stood up quickly and then picked up her bag. Emily looked stunning. She always looked stunning, but there was something about her wet hair and casual attire that made her look particularly stunning at this moment. Paige dropped her bag back down on the bench where it had just been sat and slowly walked over to Emily. Paige lifted her hand to cup the back of Emily's wet hair. She then stroked her fingers over her cheek, her eyes following the path that her hand was making. Then gently Paige returned her hand to the back of Emily's head and pulled her closer. Now Paige was staring at Emily's lips as she moved closer and closer. Finally after what seemed like an eternity without kissing Emily, she pressed their lips together. At first the kiss was slow and tender, but then it became more frantic and lust filled. Emily's hands were resting on Paige's hips and slowly started making their way under Paige's loose jacket and onto her bare back. This sent a noticeable shiver through Paige who responded by pulling Emily deeper into the kiss.

The kiss was broken by the sound of the coach shouting to ask if anyone was left in the changing room. Emily was the first of the two to be able to stutter out some sort of response and shakily shouted that they were just about to leave. Emily then planted a light kiss on Paige's lips before grapping her hand and pulling her out of the room.

They both said 'goodnight' to the coach and quietly began their walk home. They walked more slowly than they usually did, both realising that this was the first time that had managed to be alone all day.

When they eventually reached the intersection they both just stopped. Neither wanted to say goodbye. Paige looked up and then gently grabbed Emily's hand and led her behind a small group of trees. They weren't exactly completely hidden from the rest of the world but neither seemed to care. Paige connected their lips quickly and they resumed an almost identical position to the one they had in the changing room. Paige's hands gripping the back of Emily's head and Emily's hands touching the skin on Paige's back. The last time they had walked home from school together was before the camping trip. At this time they had never kissed before, but now they were kissing each other like it was the most normal thing in the world.

For the first time Paige gently brushed her tongue against Emily's bottom lip. At first Emily was a little taken aback by this new feeling but slowly she gained enough confidence to mimic Paige's actions.

They continued like this for a long time. Emily's hands drew small delicate patterns on Paige's back, each one causing Paige to shiver, while Paige gently played with Emily's hair. Their tongues dancing together.

Emily was enjoying the kiss a lot, but she suddenly got really nervous and gently pulled away. The thoughts running through her mind were scaring her. She was seriously falling for this girl. Paige noticed the concerned look in Emily's eyes and whispered, "Are you okay, is this too fast?"

Emily shook her head, "Everything is amazing Paige. This is just a little scary. All day all I've wanted to do is…kiss you."

Paige kissed Emily again and then whispered in her ear, "I haven't stopped thinking about wanting to kiss you since the first time I saw you".

Every time Paige whispered in her ear Emily could feel her stomach doing somersaults. The words she used always drove her crazy.

Paige noticed that Emily was a little out of it so decided to bring her back to reality. "Do you want to come to my house for dinner tomorrow? My parents usually get home later but I can cook us something if you' like?"

"You cook?" Emily smiled. Paige nodded, "A little."

"Are there any other talents I should know about?"

"You just have to wait and see." Paige gave a cheeky smirk before giving Emily one last kiss before they came out from behind the trees.

"See you tomorrow, Paige."

"So, are you coming for dinner?" Paige asked.

Emily smiled and nodded. She couldn't wait.

* * *

Emily sat down at her desk to start the writing she was supposed to have already finished in class. 'Write a story about you. It can be anything, a trip to the zoo, a TV show that you like. Just as long as it's true' had been all that had said.

He had been so nice to her after the class. He hadn't asked for a reason why she had failed to write anything in the 45 minutes that they had been given. He just understood.

Emily began to write.

_I've read a lot about people having a moment. A moment where everything in their life changes. I believe that people have many of these moments in their lives. This moment could be anything. It can be accepting or not accepting a job offer, deciding on which university to go to, going on vacation to Europe or Asia or it could simply be taking a left turn instead of a right. But when that moment happens, things change. This change can be good or bad. It can be something that you can or can't see. Either way it's important. Important to the person that it happens to._

_Up until recently I can't think of any point in my life where I'd had one of these moments. Of course I've had some great experiences and made some great memories, but nothing like recently._

_The first one happened not so long ago, before I moved to Rosewood. Over one weekend everything in my life changed. If you asked any of my friends or my family then they would say that it was a weekend like any other. Nothing different, nothing special. But for me everything changed, in a good way._

_I realised something that made everything in my life suddenly make sense. I felt free._

_Since moving to Rosewood these 'moments' have become more frequent. It seems like every week my life is changing. One perfect moment is followed by another and I just hope and pray that this never stops. I know that not all 'moments' will be perfect; I just believe that the tougher ones will eventually lead to better ones. _

_One of my most recent moments happened this weekend. No matter what happens in the future I will always remember this weekend. It's changed my life. I understand that I am only a teenager, but this moment was important. _

_I had a moment this weekend so important that it has consumed my every waking moment since. So much so that it would cause me to sit and stare at a wall for forty five minutes when I was supposed to be doing something else._

_I think that people should always respect and be understanding of other people no matter what they do. You never know when someone has just experienced a 'good or bad moment'._

_Moment's can make you act crazy. Make you run shouting and screaming down a hallway or simply make you stop._

_I'm looking forward to waking up tomorrow and maybe having more moments._

Emily wasn't the sort of person who expressed her feelings to other people. Especially not to teachers who she didn't really know that well. She had just realised two things when she had sat down to write her story. One, that should know that he was a good person for simply understanding and two, no matter how long she sat there for, the only thing she was going to be able to write about was how she was feeling right now. All she could think about was Paige.


End file.
